Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google is an expert on news delivery and alternative advertising models. In an interview with Financial Times, Schmidt provided his vision for the future of newspapers. It was a mixed bag of good and bad news.
Newspapers need to be more innovative because people are getting their news in a variety of ways from a variety of vehicles. “My view is that newspapers need to connect all of that together,” Schmidt said. “They need to get their information everywhere they possibly can. They need to explore new ways of advertising. Ultimately, the sum of all that will produce a vibrant newspaper industry.”
Schmidt doesn’t think charging for online content will work for newspapers. He thinks some papers will try it, but won’t be successful.
Schmidt did express interest in developing online news versions that would address the immediate needs of people for which advertising works better.
His solution sounds similar to how Amazon interfaces with customers. According to Schmidt, “It seems to me, that the newspaper I read online should remember what I’ve read. It should allow me to go deeper into the stories.”
He hit on a question that newspapers have been trying to answer since the rise of the Internet and social networking. “How do you make something which is so satisfying that you cannot put it down in the new form?”
Schmidt wouldn’t put a timetable on when the solution would be available, but did promise to make it readily available because he’s seriously concerned about the future of newspapers.
“The real loss that we’re having now is the loss in the secondary markets,” Schmidt said. “Where there was not much money to begin with. There were not that many newspapers and reporters. I’m concerned that the reporting that keeps the mayor honest – that kind of local – is largely going to be gone.”
He added, “But I don’t know how to fix that.”
Maybe an idea will come to him. Regardless, the newspaper industry and news delivery in general will no doubt look drastically different in the months and years ahead.
Posted on
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
by Sean Taylor Simpson
filed under